Touch, Taste, SEE...

"...Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”  (Luke 24:39)

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day..."  (John 6:53-54)

Do you see the amazing parallel in these two scriptures?!  Before reading on, meditate on it for a moment.  Read one, stop, then read the other.  Then do it again...what do you "see"?

 

Jesus invites us to come near; how close we come, apparently, He leaves somewhat up to us.

 

In the first scripture, after He had made that amazing transition from death on the cross to a risen new life (Matthew 28:5-7), Jesus encouraged His astounded followers to come near.  He offered those who could not believe it was truly Him to literally touch  - to handle - Him, and to experience for themselves the reality of His Presence. 

 

The second transaction was between Jesus and a crowd of mostly Jewish people who were curious about Him, combined with His disciples (John 6:22-24, 41, 52).  Here, Jesus makes the seemingly outrageous claim that in order to have real and everlasting life, one must actually consume Him by eating His flesh and drinking His blood.  Was Jesus a cannibal in disguise?  Of course not.  This was yet another beckoning for those who saw Him in the flesh then, and those who know of Him - and who know Him - now, to draw extremely close to Him.  However, this one was not just an invitation, it was an urgent insistence that unless this intimacy in relationship occurred between Jesus and a follower of His, then eternal life - that is, the part of life that is spiritual and truly alive - could not happen or be sustained. 

 

So what happened?

 

In the first event, many of His disciples still did not believe (but at least it was because of their utter amazement and joy in seeing Him - Luke 24:41).  It wasn't until Jesus Himself took the initiative and "opened their minds" that they were able to full understand what was happening (Luke 24:45-46), AND that He was alive and real.

 

Sadly, in the second encounter, many of those who had been enthusiastically serving alongside Jesus ended up leaving when they heard just how close they had to get to Him.  They felt it was too hard to accept, and so "many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him" (John 6:60, 66).  But Jesus knew this would happen, attributed it to their ultimate unbelief in that He was who He said He was (John 6:64), and then announced once again the amazing reality that it was only His Father - God Himself - Who could enable someone to truly "see" Him (John 6:44, 65).   

 

So what about you?

 

Are you willing to have Jesus open your mind or allow God to draw you so close to His Son that you can "see" Him?  "Taste" His Presence (Psalm 34:8)?  Drink from His Hands (John 4:10-15)?  Walk spiritually side-by-side with Him as He dwells in you by His Spirit (Galatians 4:6)? 

 

How close are you willing to come?

 

“Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day..."

 

 "...Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see..."

 

Love in Him,  

Terri 

 

(There's a "pattern"  ( :   For other devotionals similar to this one, see April 2012: "Have You Been Bumped?" and March 2012: "How Close?" on this blog!) 

 

 

 

New (or not-so-new)? NEW!

Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!   (2 Corinthians 5:17)

There is no doubt that anyone who is born again (Ezekiel 36:26-27; John 3:3-7)...birthed into the family of God through the supernaturally-wrought experience of sensing Jesus's touch and receiving it (John 1:12-13; John 3:7-8; John 6:43-45)...is something other than what he or she was before going through this amazing death-to-life encounter (John 5:24; Romans 6:3-4; Ephesians 5:8).  He or she IS a new creation - spiritually awakened and revived by the Holy Spirit Himself (John 3:5-7; Ephesians 2:1-2) - and even though walking on the same geographical, earthy turf, actually DWELLS (truly LIVES) in a new domain (Ephesians 2:4-6; Colossians 1:13-14; 1 Peter 2:9-10). 

Wow. 

And double wow. 

But why is it that quite often we don't look, feel, or act like something new?  Why is it when scripture makes it sound like we are now bright, shiny Rolls Royces (princes and princesses to be exact), that we seem to be driving around as still beat up, old clunkers?  A tire coming off here, a windshield wiper blade flying off there, rust settling in and spreading...why?  Does this mean we are not new creatures after all?  No way!  Once the Spirit of the Living God has brought your spirit back to life through Jesus, you are that new man no matter what!

 

Perhaps one reason we don't always perceive ourselves as so "new" is because we are spending too much time perceiving our selves: examining how we look (to ourselves and others), picking apart how we feel, and judging how we act.  But this is not to where scripture encourages us...commands us...to set our gaze.  "...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith..." (Hebrews 12:1-2).  Similarly, Paul does not exclaim that it is "you in you, the hope of glory"...it is "CHRIST in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27): the more we behold the One who dwells in us, and the less time we spend (as one sister puts in) "belly gazing" (staring at our selves), the easier it becomes to in fact look, feel, and act like Jesus simply because gazing on His Beauty, somehow, in some supernatural, amazing, transformative way, actually causes us to become like Him (and that IS the new creature coming to full bloom).    *I'm going to also post below an earlier writing called "Behold" to complement this devotional. 

 

A second reason why Believers may sometimes lack the luster of the new creation is quite honestly because we are new creatures living in a new (for us) realm.  Scripture emphasizes that God's Kingdom is not only near us (Matthew 6:9-10; Luke 10:8-9),  but also within us (Luke 17:20-21); and I don't know about you, but within almost every kingdom about which I have read, there are almost always battles...and God prepares us for that in His Word.  Paul describes being hard pressed (but not crushed), perplexed (but not in despair), persecuted (but not forsaken), and struck down (but not destroyed) (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).  He also speaks...moans, as I hear it...earlier on about the war within himself: wanting to live as that new creature who emulates Christ, yet having the gigantic pulls of his flesh to do exactly the opposite: "...but what I hate, that I do" (Romans 7:15).  And then there is the predator satan, who not only is always on the look-out for how he can divert us - subtly or violently - from fixing our eyes on Jesus and from walking as "children of Light" (1 Peter 5:8; Ephesians 5:8-10), but also has person-specific strategies with which to accomplish this ultimate goal of his and his followers (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 6:10-12).  And sometimes he is even allowed to buffet us in order to humble us, to strengthen our faith, and to bring us once again to our Father's throne in order to be sustained during this particular brand of trial (2 Corinthians 12:7-9; Luke 22:31-32; 1 Corinthians 5:4-5).  So it may be entirely understandable why we sometimes feel less-than-new...  *Along with "Behold," I am going to include a much earlier writing that truly details these battles called "Cocoon."  PLEASE just take your time and read when you may be able. 

 

But for those of us who have been born again into God's Kingdom, regardless of the belly gazing and the battles, we are new, and we need to be reminded of that (and remind one another of that) on a daily basis (Hebrews 3:13).  And we need to encourage one another that while still in this now-foreign land in which we travel (Hebrews 11:13-14; 1 Peter 2:11-12), we do have a "home" where not only we can get used to being the new creation but also where we can actually learn how to be it...you become what you behold...

 

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.  (Psalm 27:4)

 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30)

 

May we stand strong in Him (Mark 13:12-13).

 

Love in Him,

Terri

Behold and Cocoon (expounding on "NEW...!)

Behold (from September 21, 2012)

 

I am always so amazed at God when it is clear He is "trying" to communicate something to us.

Sometimes this occurs when something (profitable...from Scripture...something holy) comes to mind (the Spirit brings it!) and begins "pressing" on your thoughts (in a good way), and then continues to keep comin' back. Then lo and behold, either someone else starts speaking of the same thing, you read about it (sometimes repeatedly) either in Scripture or in another reading, or perhaps the pastor offers the same "message" through his message.

 

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. (1 Corinthians 1:10)

This very connection happened, which double-confirmed how much I want to share it with you all.

Years ago, a very devoted co-worker presented a very simple truth: You become what you behold...

This deeply significant spiritual reality entered my mind once again over this past week, and remained there, both reminding and comforting me in its veracity. Then, just yesterday, lo and behold, Joyce Meyer, in her outstanding book The Battle Belongs to the Lord emphasized this very communication - in fact, dedicated an entire chapter to it - exhorting:

(Citing 2 Corinthians 3:18) "This verse tells us that we are constantly being transfigured into the Lord's image. How? By continuing to behold him." (p. 137)

 

Behold: to watch...to observe...to gaze upon...

 

Behold your problems...and you will become your problems...

 

Behold a false image of yourself (either presented by satan: a lie [John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 Peter 5:8] or your own flesh: "I'm bad"..."I'm good"..."I'm...")...and you will start to become like that image...

 

Behold (compare yourself to? envy?) another person...and although you won't literally become that person, you will tend to absorb perceived traits of him or her...at the expense of nurturing your own identity in...

...Christ.

 

Behold Jesus and...

 

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

you begin to look like Him! Not in physical appearance (for who of us knows the details of Jesus' appearance?), but in the essence of Who He is; His nature; walking, living, breathing in Him (John 14:16-17; Acts 17:28). Delivery men and women of His message; Ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20); dying daily (1 Corinthians 15:31), yet living in a different place (2 Corinthians 4:16-17; Ephesians 2:5-6) - the spiritual realm - where there is true peace (John 14:27). Due to His royalty and magnificence (Psalm 145:5), disheveled but beautiful princes and princesses (1 Peter 2:9), clothed in His Light, who are journeying in this world, but not being of it (Joshua 7:13; Ephesians 2:19). Able to make the very most of the traveling time for His Name Sake because we...

 

Behold Him...

 

Whom or what will you behold today? It will change you in the moment, and moreso as time goes on (since that's how change here typically happens: over time). Behold Jesus and you will become more like Him (Hallelujah)...behold anything else and...

 

May we all be made able and desirous to gaze upon His Beautiful Countenance,

 

In His Love,  

Terri

 

The Cocoon (from April 3, 2005)

 

 

Jesus sometimes spoke in parables so that those who had ears to hear could understand the messages of truth that he was presenting through them (Mark 4:23). To this day, there are similar “parables” all around us that not only reveal what is happening in the physical realm, but that can also tell a story about what is occurring in the spiritual realm as well.

The example of the butterfly emerging from its cocoon is certainly a beautiful natural parallel to the supernatural crucifixion and redemption of the total being. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 – see also John 5:24 “…whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me…has crossed over from death to life.”). But this really doesn’t address all that has to go on inside of the cocoon prior to the butterfly being set totally free. Anyone understanding anything about the dark night of the soul can attest to this.

 …nor does the example given above tell us anything about the actual “birthing” of the caterpillar from its cocoon; and here is where we turn to the event of a child being born – yet another natural illustration of a spiritual phenomenon. For typically nine months or so, a fetus remains inside the warm, protective environment of its mother’s womb, being fed and nurtured directly by sustenance provided by its mother. But in order for the baby to live, it must leave this environment and be birthed into a new one; otherwise, it will die. And the travel that occurs in order for it to emerge can quite frequently be rocky and fraught with dangers. And so it is with those who are being transformed, like the butterfly, and birthed, like the baby into that which “has not yet been made known” (1 John 3:2), but that will bear the likeness of the Son of God (Romans 8:29).

We have many invisible, but not necessarily imperceptible, forces against which we are moving as we are emerging from the cocoon, or birth canal. And scripture does not try to hide – in fact God’s Word cries out and warns about – these adversaries to our successful birth. Picture a large steel tunnel through which you are trying to crawl to daylight. There are constant bangings and poundings not just on the outside of the passageway, but going on within your very being as well. This is part of the birthing process into the spiritual realm: “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members...Who will rescue me from this body of death?...” (Romans 7:22-24).

Paul has already given us one example of one of the forces that are working against us; and that is our very flesh. And this is not just our skin-flesh, but the very nature of who we are apart from Christ. That is why Paul tells the Colossians to “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5; see also Galatians 5:19-21). Put to death? Put to death?! How readily do you think our earthly nature (old nature, old self) is going to respond to that?! “Sure, I’ve been alive for ‘X’ amount of years, have been basically doing what I want, and now you want to put me to death…I don’t THINK so…” So just like an unregenerate baby, it is going to rant and rave and put up a fight against being put to death; that is, until it becomes more used to and appreciative of its new state of being (and then it will actually come to desire the elimination of anything that gets in the way of this transformation process: the new wineskin into which the "new wine" is being poured - Luke 5:37-39).  For other examples of the war with the sinful nature see Romans 8:5-8 and Galatians 5:17.  And if you think that this is something of the past, see Ephesians 4:22, which says that we are to put off the old self, which is being corrupted (now) by its deceitful desires. This was told to believers, who were being instructed by Paul how to live as children of God.

And then there’s the world and its enemies. Jesus says of his disciples as he is praying to the Father, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it” (John 17:16), and this is true about anyone who has been born again. But that doesn’t mean that the world and all of its philosophies won’t be a temptation to remain in the “womb” of the world, hanging on to it because of how enticing some of its elements are to the fleshly nature (Luke 5:39; James 1:13-15). Paul warns the Colossians, since he sees that even after having received the Holy Spirit they are still falling captive to the “hollow and deceptive philosophy” (of the world), which depends on “human tradition and the basic principles” (of the world) and not on Christ (Colossians 2:8). He also seems to forewarn that there will be believers who will abandon the truth and turn again to the world’s philosophies to “suit their own desires”: “…they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-5). Likewise, there will be those who “abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught be demons” (1 Timothy 4:1), who are currently the rulers of the world (John 12:31; Ephesians 6:12; 1 John 5:19).  And for those who stand firm in Christ, pressing on to be fully birthed as the new creature (Philippians 3:12), the world will hate and persecute them, just as Jesus was and still is (John 15:18-19).

And of course we have the direct and indirect attacks of satan and his demons. Already mentioned were the deceiving spirits and demons who currently rule over “this dark world” (Ephesians 6:12; 1 John 5:19) and who will do what they can to propagate lies (satan himself being the “father of lies” – John 8:44) in order to drag believers away from the truth (1 Timothy 4:1). And satan himself will remain neither still nor silent; he will be on the prowl “like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8) and he will work tirelessly to keep nonbelievers captive to carrying out his will (2 Timothy 2:25-26). Satan will also try to tempt believers away from full transformation by disguising himself as an “angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), offering those very things of himself and of the world that actually oppose God’s will for us but that are immensely attractive to the still-existing, not-yet-fully-transformed flesh. He even offered similar attractions to Jesus, but of course was not successful in his attempts to pry Jesus away from making the full journey to the cross, through the cross, and into his resurrected life (Matthew 4:1-11).

Paul in Philippians admitted that he was straining toward what was ahead – the “prize” for which Jesus had called him heavenward (3:13-14). It would be interesting to know the original meaning of the word “straining” in this context to see just how intense this ongoing journey was for him.  Jesus himself had to be strengthened by an angel from heaven as he sweat what was compared to drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:44). This occurred while praying to his Father on the Mount of Olives (also known as Gethsemane: Matthew 26:36) as he approached the time for his own crucifixion and resurrection. These two examples attest to the fact that as we ourselves are transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory (2 Corinthians 3:18) – are in the process of emerging as a butterfly from the cocoon, are being birthed fully into our new creature status and into new life – there will definitely be struggles and forces against which we must contend in order to win the “prize” of full transformation. But we have an Advocate who has gone through it all before us – he took the trip from death to life so that we could take it too (Hebrews 2:9, 18; 4:14-15), and he himself strained and sweat as he encountered massive opposition in his journey (Hebrews 2:10; 12:3-4). And he also offers us the Holy Spirit of God to ensure that we will make it the whole way too (John 16:7; Philippians 1:6), in spite of the world, in spite of satan, and in spite of ourselves – our old selves.  In him, we will one day emerge fully new; and it will be then that we not only see him face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12), but will be like Him too (1 John 3:2): Perfect Love, Perfect Joy, Perfect Peace...Perfect... (Hebrews 12:22-23). 

“Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17)

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  (Ephesians 3:16-19)

 

 

 

 

Think About It

I'm not so sure starting these back up again with this topic is such a good idea, but my mouth dropped to the ground when I heard something yesterday afternoon on a Christian radio talk show.  Quite painfully, I have been watching for over a decade a gradual deterioration of student participation in their own learning, as both a substitute teacher and now as a special education paraeducator.  A growing majority (not all) of students just do not seem to want to expend the effort it takes to grasp concepts that will enable them to understand the material...many of them just do not seem to want to think.   Often, the blame is placed on the teacher or on the way the lesson is presented; there seems to be an insidious avoidance of coming out and admitting that many of today's youth are just becoming lazy-in-mind.  There are others that very obviously have thinking skills, but they choose to misapply them; they are not disciplined enough, and are not being taught how (by our society or otherwise), to use their minds productively.  This is not a condemnation, but an observation: one that terrifies me since there is so much information out there through which these kids will have to sift as they get older.  The educational system preaches critical thinking skills, which is ironic if students are passive about their education and/or resistant to thinking in the first place.

What caused my mouth to plunge and my heart to do likewise was when I heard the speaker apply this same  phenomenon to the Church.  He proposed that there were actually ten reasons why there seemed to be such a spiritual sickness and lack of power in the Body of Christ these days; he highlighted two.  The first was an overall decline in truly studying and thinking about God and His Word, and the second was a dangerous "misapplication" of our energy; that is, when thought and time are being invested, they are often exhausted on earthly endeavors with little left over for what is desperately needed to keep the spiritual man alive (Luke 20:38-42). 

 

Using our mind: thinking about God and His Word...

 

As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God (Psalm 42:1). 

 

The speaker on the show made a noteworthy point:  how can we long for something (or Someone) in our hearts Whom we really do not take much time to hear and understand?   How can we believe (and be joyful about) something if we go only by what we hear others saying about it (Jeremiah 50:6) or by having only a very hazy notion of its meaning ourselves (Matthew 13:12-14)?  Within the Word itself we are told to consider (1 Samuel 12:24; Hebrews 10:24) , to ponder (Psalm 111:2), and to directly study the things of God (Acts 17:11-12) - to think about them, even critically, not just so that we can enjoy them, but also so that we are not led astray by those things that may be presented as the truth, but which are perilously not (1 Timothy 4:1-3).  It is exciting that one of the Hebrew words for "consider" quite frequently mentions the definition to see; that by spending time with God and truly thinking about His Word, our spiritual vision is being cleared.  

 

Using our mind: what ARE we thinking about?...

 

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth... (Colossians 3:2) 

 

The second hindrance to a fully-functioning Body of Messiah mentioned was that when we do spend time thinking, considering, pondering...these functions are dedicated more toward the things of this world rather than the Kingdom of God: we are living in the world AND becoming more of it (John 17:14, 16).  There should be a difference (1 John 4:4-6)- just like there is a distinction between the earthly and spiritual realms - in what a Believer does with his/her time, the substance of the thoughts he/she thinks, the ultimate desires of his/her heart (1 John 2:15-17).  It is by perceiving this distinction that some who do not yet know Jesus will either be driven away from or captivated by Him, but how will this happen if Christians look more like the things of this world than like Him?  By expending so much effort - thought and otherwise - on what "moth and rust will destroy" (Matthew 6:19-20) and by focusing our minds (and hearts) on so many things other than our wonderful God and His Word, Believers are shrouding the beauty of Christ-in-them (Colossians 1:27) and are keeping others from seeing the Truth (the Way and the Life) as well (John 14:6).  For where your treasure is, there your heart (and thoughts) will be also...  (Luke 12:34). 

 

This aversion to and/or misapplication of thought is happening all over.  As Believers we need to be praying about this, but we can't effectively if it's happening to us too.

 

Think about it...we desperately need to.   

  

Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your [I have left my] first love.  Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.    (Revelation 2:4-5)

 

God bless you all!

Love in Him,   

Terri